Former NBA journeyman Smush Parker spent two seasons with the Lakers — easily the most productive seasons of his career — but he and Kobe Bryant clashed repeatedly in those couple years.
That feud extended beyond Parker’s NBA days, and the two never got a chance to talk out their differences. The two shared a backcourt during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons — both ended with first-round losses against the Phoenix Suns (they blew a 3-1 lead in 2006). Back in 2012, Bryant said this of Parker, via The Los Angeles Times:
“Smush Parker was the worst,” Bryant said. “He shouldn’t have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. We let him walk on.”
Parker also was public about his issues with Kobe, saying that playing with Bryant was “an overrated experience.”
Following Bryant’s shocking death in Sunday’s California helicopter crash that killed nine people, Parker opened up about his personal regret when it comes to not mending his relationship with Kobe.
He wrote on Instagram:
The toughest pill to swallow on today for me has been the fact that I didn’t get a chance to verbally speak with my brother to not only reconcile our differences but to find out if he actually had a relationship with The Lord Almighty. As today proves no matter how successful we are in life, when God calls for His breathe back our time here on earth is up. And if we don’t invest our time wisely here on earth, our life in eternity can be a very bad ordeal.
He expanded on that regret in an interview with TMZ.
In the wake of Kobe’s death, Kendrick Perkins reached out to Kevin Durant to squash their feud. Parker’s experience will hopefully have others doing the same.
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